I'm moving the 5 cabin lights from the center of the playfield to just above the cup (which is now the cabin). The ASH status lights are moved from above the cup/cabin down to the center insert area where I have a large picture of Ash.

I thought this made more sense. Also when you spell A-S-H it lights up the "El Jefe" inserts in front of the ramps. "El Jefe" is Ash's nick name from Pablo in the TV show which means something along the liens of "The Chosen One". Hit the ramps when El Jefe inserts are lit and you defeat 3 deadites all at once instead of hitting the 3 drop targets one by one. So spelling ASH help you destroy deadites more quickly which makes sense since Ash is a badass deadite killer.

So the problem with this change is that I have 5 big inserts in the center of the playfield but I only want to use two of them. I also want just a circular area in the middle of the insert vs a full large rectangle of light to shine through.

One approach to handle this is to remove the inserts not needed and plug up the holes with wood inserts. The problem with this approach is I already prepped the playfield for the overlay and didn't want to strip it rebuild it again because I'm inherently lazy.

Another approach is to add masking layers on top of the existing playfield that will block light transmission in the areas I don't want to show through. Using clear water slide decals, I made a shape with solid black for the two outermost inserts which I wanted to be totally off all the time. For the center 3 inserts I wanted to reduce the insert from a large rectangular one to medium circular one. So I printed a decal that was black with a clear circular center area. I ended up printing 2 decals per insert to increase the opacity.

I tested the opacity by placing a lit LED behind the insert and the 2 decals did a good job blocking the light. However, I now needed to add a layer of white since my overlay is printed on clear vinyl so it needs white everywhere on playfield that has art over it. I added 3 round stickers over the center 3 inserts so I wouldn't add to much white in that area to make it less translucent. After I sprayed the paint I removed the 3 round stickers.

Now on to installing the overlay. As I said earlier the replacement overlay looked much better and the size was pretty good. Even though there is a thick paper backing on the adhesive side you can still see light through it when its lit from underneath. So I used a stool under each end and left it open in the middle so I could light it from underneath. Here is a pic of the final paper insert layout I printed at staples to double check the position of everything. I printed it then cut out the center of the inserts to clearly see how well things lined up. I then overlaid the paper test print on the overlay to verify it lined up. Then i was ready to apply the overlay.

I probably could have just applied it using the dry method via a hinge approach. For hinge method you align the overlay to the final position then tape one half of it down to the playfield. you then fold the un-taped half back and remove the paper backing exposing the adhesive and then working from the hinge down you slowly lay it down removing any air bubbles as you go. The advantage of this method is its dry instantly and has hardly any air bubbles in it. The disadvantage is that if it’s not aligned properly you can’t lift it back up and adjust. Once the sticky side goes down you are done. The hinge method is used a lot for putting stencils down. Check out this video from pinballpimp showing how to do it.

The wet method involves spraying a very slightly soapy (like 1-2 drops per bottle) water mix on the playfield and on the sticky side of the overlay. If you need to re-apply you can lift it back up and move it. Drawbacks to this approach is that its messy (gets a lot of water everywhere so have lots of towels on the floor). You end up with a lot of bubbles that need to be smoothed out using a squeegee. I tried to get all of the bubble out but I had a few in there I didn’t notice until it was already dried. They are very small so I'm probably the only one who notices them. I also have a couple spots where there was a speck of grit/dirt that make slight bump on the overlay. Again pretty minor but be aware you need a clean playfield before cutting the overlay down and try to look for any trapped dirt while it’s still wet so you can pull the overlay up to remove it.

An advantage of printing on clear vinyl is that playfield holes that don't have art over them let you see the holes very easily. For some of the larger holes I left a "hole" (white) area in the art so its critical that they line up. However, there are a few small holes for ball rails or posts that are difficult to line up perfect. For those holes I didn't draw a "hole" in the art. That’s because if the alignment was off by just a tiny amount it would stick out like a sore thumb. For those holes I align the overlay then once its installed and dry I can use a light from underneath to light up where the hole is so I can then drill it out through the overlay. You can see the bright spot in pic below which indicates where the ball rail near the flippers goes. If I tried to make a clear spot in the art it would need to be exactly aligned otherwise the circle in the art would not line up with the actual hole. Getting perfect alignment on such a small hole would be almost impossible.

The playfield overlay is now down and its ready to start re-assembling all the underside and top side wiring and hardware. I''l keep full pics a surprise until I get the plastics and toys done and installed.

I’ll periodically update the thread as I go through that process re-installation process. I've only done one playfield swap befroe and that was an EM so it was pretty simple. Diner has a lot of ramps and layers in the back so I'm a little nervous about it.

I might also get distracted though once my Batman66 game shows up and I decide to play a games or two or a thousand on it.

This is really well done, and incredible artwork design and implementation! I've really enjoyed all the update images and details on how you're designing and building this. Excited to see it completed!

This is really well done, and incredible artwork design and implementation! I've really enjoyed all the update images and details on how you're designing and building this. Excited to see it completed!

Thanks for the nice words. I never would have attempted my own retheme without getting inspired by some other great retheme threads. I hope this thread inspires others to get creative and try one themselves.

If all goes well I hope to have the game done and ready for a premier at allentown or pintastic.

You are doing such an amazing job I probably should not comment. But -

The wet method for the overlay works well. But next time look into Rapid-Tac not soapy water. This will totally dissipate without leaving any residue that might get in the way of adhesion in the future.

Also, after you are done using the squeegee go over it with a hair dryer (not heat gun) and this will tighten it down helping to remove those tiny air bubbles.

You are doing such an amazing job I probably should not comment. But -
The wet method for the overlay works well. But next time look into Rapid-Tac not soapy water. This will totally dissipate without leaving any residue that might get in the way of adhesion in the future.
Also, after you are done using the squeegee go over it with a hair dryer (not heat gun) and this will tighten it down helping to remove those tiny air bubbles.
Awesome work.

thanks for the tips.

I used rapidtac the first time I applied an overly (back when it was batman) but I totally forgot this go around to order some more. When I removed my old batman overlay a few months ago it was held on very securely with the rapidtac. It came off in a lot of little pieces because it adhered so well.

I read about the using heat to help smooth things out. I have a few very fine scratches on the surface from the squeegee card. I heard heat (low heat) can also help with those since its vinyl. I was going to give that a try. I assume its simialr to flame polishing a plast5ic ramp, a littl eheat goes a long way but too much and you get a mess.

I'm finally getting around to building a proper rotisserie. I had a crude homebrew one but it was wobbly and not easily adjustable. I'm going with this design:

Awesome work! It is looking great so far! Does you overlay have a clear laminate over the print or do you plan on clearing it at all?

It has a lamination layer on it already. I also have one of those makrolon rigid playfield protectors designed for Diner. I wanted to clear it originally but the guy who cleared my C37 playfield says he doesn't clear overlays so I thought I'd try this approach and see how it looks and plays. Some people seem to like the playfield protectors, some not.

It has a lamination layer on it already. I also have one of those makrolon rigid playfield protectors designed for Diner. I wanted to clear it originally but the guy who cleared my C37 playfield says he doesn't clear overlays so I thought I'd try this approach and see how it looks and plays. Some people seem to like the playfield protectors, some not.

I wonder if he worried about the heat from the clear melting the overlay. It might be worth testing on a discarded piece to see what happens. Put a think coat of clear on it and let it really heat up.

It has a lamination layer on it already. I also have one of those makrolon rigid playfield protectors designed for Diner. I wanted to clear it originally but the guy who cleared my C37 playfield says he doesn't clear overlays so I thought I'd try this approach and see how it looks and plays. Some people seem to like the playfield protectors, some not.

Ok, cool. Yeah I just wanted to make sure you had the print protected in some way. What you are doing should work perfectly.

...The key is to put a thin layer down first and let it cure. Then you can add heavier coats without the heat affecting the overlay. This is what we had to do when clearing over ours.

Exactly. That was why I was saying to take a discarded piece of the same material he is using. Throw a think coat on it for a worst case scenario of heat. You will be able to see the damage and determine how careful you need to be.

Exactly. That was why I was saying to take a discarded piece of the same material he is using. Throw a think coat on it for a worst case scenario of heat. You will be able to see the damage and determine how careful you need to be.

So applying clear is an exothermic reaction that produces heat? Is that just for the 2 part auto clears? I've used varathane and polycrylic before and never noticed any heat.

I still have the bad overlay with banding defects. Thats a goood idea you had to use it for some experiements.

Long overdue for an update. Been real busy this month between work and getting my new Batman. Work has still been progressing though. I'm still working on re-attaching everything to the playfield. I've been using my ultrasonic cleaner and disassembling everything before I re-attach it to the playfield. I've re-done the drop target assemblies and flippers so far and I'm doing the pops next.

I've also been trying to decide what art I want on the plastics and translite.

For the translite I'm still trying to decide what I want to do. There are several features of the Diner back box design I want to retain if I can make it look good they are : rotating mechanical clock, jackpot light show around the clock, bouncing customers on springs with flashers.

Here is my base image I want to use:

trans_bare (resized).jpg

In this image the "Ash vs Evil Dead" logo is actually going to transparent and the white/red will be on the rotating round clock face behind it. So as the clock rotates the logo will have "blood" fill and un-fill the letters.

The chainsaw blade will be back lit using the lights that used to be around the clock. They light sequentially from 1 to 12 as the jackpot increases. During attract mode and a few other times they do a little light shows which will be an added bonus. Alternatively I could just have a 1 through 12 graphic running up the side like a thermometer to indicate jackpot value.

In the original diner you had all 5 customers (and a chef?) are visible in the dining car windows. Each person was mounted on a spring and sat behind the back glass but in front of the back board so they had a 3-d effect and would bounce around as you shook the game. There was also a flasher behind each person that would flash whenever they spoke during the game.

I was going to use the dead space under and to the right of the chainsaw blade to put each of the "ghost-beaters" you collect during the the game. Not sure if it would look better to have them be 3-d cutouts on springs with flashers or just have them printed and back lit with flashers. Other option would be to just not have nay people there and just leave that area open like in the original image.

trans_names (resized).jpg

Here's a gif to crudely show what I'm thinking.

aed_test5.gif

so what do people think:
rotating blood disc behind logo - yes or no?
jackpot score back lit on blade - yes or no?
ghost-beater crew - bouncy or stationary or not at all?

Long overdue for an update. Been real busy this month between work and getting my new Batman. Work has still been progressing though. I'm still working on re-attaching everything to the playfield. I've been using my ultrasonic cleaner and disassembling everything before I re-attach it to the playfield. I've re-done the drop target assemblies and flippers so far and I'm doing the pops next.
I've also been trying to decide what art I want on the plastics and translite.
For the translite I'm still trying to decide what I want to do. There are several features of the Diner back box design I want to retain if I can make it look good they are : rotating mechanical clock, jackpot light show around the clock, bouncing customers on springs with flashers.
Here is my base image I want to use:

In this image the "Ash vs Evil Dead" logo is actually going to transparent and the white/red will be on the rotating round clock face behind it. So as the clock rotates the logo will have "blood" fill and un-fill the letters.
The chainsaw blade will be back lit using the lights that used to be around the clock. They light sequentially from 1 to 12 as the jackpot increases. During attract mode and a few other times they do a little light shows which will be an added bonus. Alternatively I could just have a 1 through 12 graphic running up the side like a thermometer to indicate jackpot value.
In the original diner you had all 5 customers (and a chef?) are visible in the dining car windows. Each person was mounted on a spring and sat behind the back glass but in front of the back board so they had a 3-d effect and would bounce around as you shook the game. There was also a flasher behind each person that would flash whenever they spoke during the game.
I was going to use the dead space under and to the right of the chainsaw blade to put each of the "ghost-beaters" you collect during the the game. Not sure if it would look better to have them be 3-d cutouts on springs with flashers or just have them printed and back lit with flashers. Other option would be to just not have nay people there and just leave that area open like in the original image.

Here's a gif to crudely show what I'm thinking.

so what do people think:
rotating blood disc behind logo - yes or no?
jackpot score back lit on blade - yes or no?
ghost-beater crew - bouncy or stationary or not at all?

Personally I love the rotating blood letters and the jackpot indicator on the saw blade is good. I'm don't know about the moving beaters though. I think I would make them light up but not spring loaded.

I think I over animated them in my gif mockup. If you look at the customers in the original diner backbox the amount of movement is fairly minor. The 3d depth of the customers is much more noticeable than their movement on the spring.

Sounds like an LCD or OLED display is in order for that.
I like the idea; but I'm curious to see if the OP as the technical capability to take it that far.

there are mechanical tricks in layering the background and how its lit, some of the old EM's do this. My point was mostly to change the numerals to icons, but transforming there are options. Numerals could 'push through' over graphic icons without an LCD.

there are mechanical tricks in layering the background and how its lit, some of the old EM's do this. My point was mostly to change the numerals to icons, but transforming there are options. Numerals could 'push through' over graphic icons without an LCD.

thats a good idea about using graphics instead of number. I'll try a mock up of that as well. The only advantage with number si that it equates to the actual bonus amount, ie 5 = 5 million, 6 = six million etc.

Although LCD woudl look very cool I was trying to keep it "old school" and stay with its system 11 roots. I like the look of mechanical and light effects in the backglass.

Still trying to decide if I want an LCD on the playfield or not. If I did it would probably be the necronomicon, maybe something like the LCD book in the hobbit game.

I just tried ordering from them again using my existing account and they add like 420 euro fee for shipping now, but the US is still listed in their shipping chart for much less. Still does the same thing even if over 100 euros worth of stuff is on the order. Perhaps it's just a glitch or something? Might be worth contacting them to find out. If not, that sucks because i had planned to order some more stuff from them too.

I just tried ordering from them again using my existing account and they add like 420 euro fee for shipping now, but the US is still listed in their shipping chart for much less. Still does the same thing even if over 100 euros worth of stuff is on the order. Perhaps it's just a glitch or something? Might be worth contacting them to find out. If not, that sucks because i had planned to order some more stuff from them too.

I got the 400+ euro charge as well which seemed a little high to ship 3 pop bumper bodies. So I emailed and they replied that they no longer ship to the US.

I did find colored pop bumper bodies are pinball life but they are solid colors. I like the translucent because my playfield is going to be on the dark side and it think the translucent with internal lighting would really brighten up the top of the playfield.

I got the 400+ euro charge as well which seemed a little high to ship 3 pop bumper bodies. So I emailed and they replied that they no longer ship to the US.
I did find colored pop bumper bodies are pinball life but they are solid colors. I like the translucent because my playfield is going to be on the dark side and it think the translucent with internal lighting would really brighten up the top of the playfield.

Damn, that sucks. I really liked those and was going to get more for some other machines along with some of their metallic flipper bats. Wonder what the deal is that made them decide it was still ok to ship nearly everywhere in the world but not the US?

Damn, that sucks. I really liked those and was going to get more for some other machines along with some of their metallic flipper bats. Wonder what the deal is that made them decide it was still ok to ship nearly everywhere in the world but not the US?

Never tried those, but they seem to be quite popular.
I was unsatisfied with the available options awhile back and made these by soldering some partially disassembled 555 bulbs onto the bottom of some of Comet's pop bumper lights. Works great and allows for different up and down colors and has a little dimmer built in.

I agree it seems to be an odd business choice.
I might just go with these instead:http://www.britemods.com/britecaps--evo.html
» YouTube video
Looks like they do a decent job lighting below the pop bumper and they have the flash effect when the ball hits the bumper. Plus I can buy them since they are in the US.

I just installed these in my FunHouse and they're great! They also have separate dimmer dials to adjust brightness. The only bad thing is they are not the non-ghosting variety of LEDs so they have just a tiny bit of light flicker on top when they're supposed to be off. Depending upon your pop bumper caps, you may not need to worry about it. I also got a set of frosted caps which look great, but decided not to use them on FunHouse.

So I am fairly obsessed with those bumper bodies now (thanks guys). I thought about having them shipped to a friend in the UK or Canada and having them forward them along. Then the idea of a re-shipper hit me. I run a few different online stores for a variety of artists and many of our international customers will ship to a re-shipper here in the US, combine some parcels and forward them all along together.

This place in Germany may be all of our answers. They set you up with a German PO box and then forward to the US

So I am fairly obsessed with those bumper bodies now (thanks guys). I thought about having them shipped to a friend in the UK or Canada and having them forward them along. Then the idea of a re-shipper hit me. I run a few different online stores for a variety of artists and many of our international customers will ship to a re-shipper here in the US, combine some parcels and forward them all along together.
This place in Germany may be all of our answers. They set you up with a German PO box and then forward to the UShttps://mailboxde.com/forwarding-from-germany-to-usa.html

Seems like a great idea; but is it just the shipping that the bumper body company doesn't want to do to the US, or is it that they don't want USD or American customers at all? If that's the case they might not take the USD orders.

When Marco wrote me back today he said they wouldn't ship to the states any longer and recommended shipping them to a friend. I didn't ask too many questions. Payment isn't an issue as you can pay euros through paypal.

It may be something with our customs. I know we have a bunch of parcels that get held up in Germany and returned to us, so it could be something similar for them as well. We have a few countries that we no longer deal with b/c of customs issues.

So I am fairly obsessed with those bumper bodies now (thanks guys). I thought about having them shipped to a friend in the UK or Canada and having them forward them along. Then the idea of a re-shipper hit me. I run a few different online stores for a variety of artists and many of our international customers will ship to a re-shipper here in the US, combine some parcels and forward them all along together.
This place in Germany may be all of our answers. They set you up with a German PO box and then forward to the UShttps://mailboxde.com/forwarding-from-germany-to-usa.html

Looks promising. Have you used them before?

I'm willing to give it a try. If you are planning on getting these as well do you want to do joint order to save on shipping?

I'm totally in on the joint order idea. The more of us there are, the more negligible the shipping becomes (like sharing a cab!) I'm all excited about those translucent pop bumper bodies as well...plus they offer the PinBot mini playfield at *literally* one third the price of Marco...

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